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Man accused of lewd behavior

By Times Staff Writer
Published October 20, 2005

TAMPA - A Wesley Chapel carpenter was charged this week with lewd and lascivious exhibition, after a veteran Tampa police detective tracked him down using a vague vehicle description and a partial tag number reported by students on a school bus.

Tampa Police Department spokesman Joe Durkin said the agency received reports in recent weeks that students saw a man fondling himself while sitting inside a gray Toyota pickup truck in the area of Osborne Avenue and Highland Avenue in central Tampa.

The students, who saw the man on more than one occasion while they were riding a school bus, could only recall part of the truck's tag number, Durkin said.

So veteran Detective O.P. Parrish tried out different tag combinations until he found a few that were registered to gray Toyota pickups. He identified Sean Wyland, 34, as a possible suspect and put his photo among a group of other photos that were shown to the students.

Those students said Wyland was the man they had seen inside the truck, Durkin said.

Wyland later admitted to the offense, Durkin said. "He said he didn't mean for the kids to see him."

Wyland was released from the county jail late Tuesday after posting $1,000 bond.

[Last modified October 20, 2005, 01:19:18]